2013 Bear Hunt (Part 1). A VERY Long read.

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Schultzy
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2013 Bear Hunt (Part 1). A VERY Long read.

Unread postby Schultzy » Wed Sep 18, 2013 8:42 am

I made some great memories!! A few were 1st time memories. Also had some not so good luck on one particular hunt.

As some may know on here I've been taking my daughter with bear baiting with me the last 2 years. I started her early at 5 years old. She just loves this stuff. Anyhow I asked her this year If I got drawn for a license would she want to sit in a bear stand with me? She said yes I'd love to do that dad!! Talk about being a proud dad hearing that!! Anyhow I didn't get drawn but come August 7th at 12:00 pm leftover licenses were open to the public for those who didn't buy there's in time. There were only 27 leftover licenses in my area but I got lucky and got one. There was 500 total licenses leftover in the whole state and they were gone in 2 minutes. Its a 1st come 1st serve basis.

Anyhow now reality was here and my daughter was going in the bear stand with her dad at 6 years old. A week after we baited we headed back up to northern Minnesota to check our baits. They were pounded good. 7 of the 9 baits were hit. Come the next weekend hunting opened on Sunday so we had our work cut out Saturday baiting and getting ready for the hunt come Sunday. Our baits were still hitting good. We had 8 hit baits out of 9. One particular bait I wanted the bear that was hitting it but he never showed again after being at this same bait for 6 straight days. He was one big bear!! We've seen this happen allot with these big P&Y and B&C bear up and leave. With our experiences you've gotta get them as quick as possible before they up and leave and head somewhere else.

The 3 of us (my dad, my brother and myself) talked at the campfire Saturday evening on what baits we all liked. Usually we all write down on a piece of paper our 1st and 2nd choice of baits we want to hunt. If 2 of us choose the same bait sometimes we'll draw for straws then. This time none of us chose the same one. I choose a bait that would suit Lydia and myself well. It was a good comfortable 2 seater and the mosquitoes were allot less at this bait compared to others. There was 2 bear that were hitting this bait. One about 130lbs or so and another I figured to be in that 150lb dressed range and he was hitting in the daylight allot. My whole goal was to get a bear in front of my daughter.



September 1st, our 1st hunt.
On our walk in I was getting nervous, REALLY nervous. Never have I been so nervous bear hunting before and I've been doing this for 24 years. lol! The excitement of having my daughter with was really getting to me. I usually always bring in some teaser treats for the bears to place at and close to the bait to ease their mind when they come in to the bait while were hunting at said bait. While sprinkling some candy around that my daughter got from going to parades this summer I heard a light crack NW of us about 30 yards away. 2 small branches were broke. I said to myself If I was in the stand I would say that's a bear coming in. I looked at my daughter and she too heard it but had no idea what It actually was. I honestly thought it very well could have been a bear but was thinking no as the bait wasn't hit (little did I know) since we baited it 6 hours ago.

The clock on the trail camera went goofy on us that one day some how so the time and date are wrong. The bear is at this bait at about 4:15 PM September 1st. I looks like the smaller one of the 2 which would've been perfectly fine. Anything but a cub would've gotten an arrow with my daughter in the tree with me.
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Here's us coming in to hunt. It's 4:45 PM September 1st. Were putting some goodies down. This is when I heard the small little crack while throwing out some goodies. It sure made sense the next day when we pulled the card on the camera and saw there was a bear there 30 minutes before me and Lydia got there.
[bbvideo=425,350]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N8IfzLvDtZY[/bbvideo]



I brought my camcorder with as I've been filming my bear hunts the last 4 years. Here's a little video of Lydia and myself up in the bear stand before I got settled in. Make sure you turn your volume up. We were whispering trying to be quiet.
[bbvideo=425,350]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2akQtUDWMok[/bbvideo]

Nothing showed that hunt. I was very proud of my daughter on how she did sitting for 3.5 hours till dark. She moved a little too much but none the less she did awesome!! She did say she was a little bored though. lol! I can't blame her I guess. :lol:. My brother on the other hand had some action. For the 1st time ever he missed a bear at 12 yards. It was a decent bear. Probably in that 200lb dressed range. It was a chocolate colored bear. The bear would never sit still and was very cautious. He shot right over his back. He's pretty sure he hurried the shot too much. My dad had no action where he was.




Only one sit Lydia could sit with me as she had to go back home being in 2 days being she was going to start Kindergarten. I was bummed but In 4 to 5 years as long as she's doing well in school and at home I'll pull her out of her 1st week of school so she can be with me (us) at bear camp. My next sit (September 2nd, Monday) I sat a different bait looking for a bigger bear being my daughter was now on her 4.5 hour trip home. A friend of ours who always helps us bait headed back home and took my daughter with him. It worked out perfect. Nothing showed on my 2nd hunt. A cool front moved in the night before. Allot of the baits went real cold just like that. My brother headed back Monday in the afternoon being he had to work Tuesday and would then be back up late Tuesday night around midnight. It was terrible timing on his part as you will see below!! Pictured below is one huge bear!!!! This is the 1st time this bear has ever hit this bait. I believe this bear to be very old. 20+ years old I bet. Look how tall he is. He has hardly any bulk to him and I bet he still is pushing 350lbs dressed. He could easily be a 500+lb bear when or if he would fill out. In allot of the pics his skin is hanging 5 to 6 inches down at least. On some of his but shots you can see the wrinkles in his skin.

September 2nd pics (Monday) of the new bear at my brothers bait.
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On September 3rd (Tuesday) we checked most of the baits. Our baits were slowly going to heck with pretty much just night hitting action. The wind direction was horrible so dad and I both didn't hunt that evening. A few cocktails and old bear hunting stories were told between us at camp. The wind direction would've been fine at my brothers bait though.


On September 4th (Wednesday) we all ate some breakfast and headed out baiting. My brother came along with as he got back up here about midnight the night before. Again most of the baits were still cold. I was kinda frustrated wondering what was going on. The baits were still getting hit but mostly at night. After we were done baiting we checked all of the cards from the trail camera's. Again the bait that my brother was hunting got pounded again and in the daylight. It was the same big guy. You can really see his size in the few color pics my Reconyx took. Man what a monster of a bear. Man was my brother ticked he couldn't hunt the last 2 days. He has yet to shoot himself a real big bear. I believe this bear would've easily topped my biggest bear head wise. The skull from my bear in 2000 measured out at 20 5/16. Here's some of the pics from September 3rd at my brothers bait. He was at this bait for 3.5 hours during the daylight. Unreal!!!
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September 4th hunt. I was totally 100% convinced my brother would have action with the big guy above. Surprisingly (but not surprisingly) the big guy was a no show. I've said this before. You've gotta get these big guys quick before they switch things up. September 3rd was the last time he hit this bait in the daylight. My dad kept with the same bait he had been hunting. Nothing showed but 7 minutes after he got down from hunting the big slob above showed up at his bait after looking at the cards the next day. That threw a twist in to things. These 2 baits are 3 miles apart. As for me I said screw it and picked a bait that hasn't had a daylight hit yet since we started baiting almost 3 weeks ago. Lots of night time crap was it. However this bait is known for new bear to show up about this time of year. Happens usually every year. I guessed it spot on but things didn't quite work out as this newcomer seen something wasn't right in the skinny tree I was in. I was only in the tree for 30 minutes when I heard him coming in. I couldn't believe it!! Video of the hunt is below. I figured he was in that 180lb dressed range. He was big enough for me although I wanted a bigger bear. Bear hunting wasn't going well so I started to lower my standards just a tad from this hunt on out being I only had 3 days left to hunt.
[bbvideo=425,350]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LqrW2MldsmM[/bbvideo]




September 5th the temps started to rise again. The baits also turned on big time the evening of the 4th when the warm front started to come through. There was 3 other baits where bear could've been shot on the 4th but no one was on them. My brother decided to stay on the bait he's been hunting and so did my dad. Nothing showed for them guys. I honestly didn't think the bear that I saw would come back again but in the middle of the night after I left a big sow in that 200lb range showed up with her cubs and later after her a very nice boar in that 350lb+ range also showed up for the 1st time. After seeing that I figured I'd sit this bait again as I was hoping the big guy would show up. I also would shoot the sow if she offered me a shot being she was of good size. Her cubs were in excellent shape and also In Minnesota you can shoot a sow with cubs. I'm in 100% belief that cubs in good shape will be just fine with out momma. Anytime we've shot a sow with cubs we always load a couple hundred pounds of meat on the bait for the cubs to continue to eat from. There usually 80lb barrels when were done for the year. Well about 10 minutes before dark I hear a crack to my left about 70 yards. I'm thinking yep that could be a bear. Minutes later a red squirrel goes off in the same place. I'm then thinking yep that's probably a bear as red squirrels and often bluejays will give you a heads up when a bear is coming in. For a second or 2 I thought about getting down thinking there's probably no way this bear will get to the bait in time before it gets dark and If it did come at dark and I didn't know it when I got down I then would spook it screwing up the bait. For whatever reason I kinda forgot about the crack. I looked at my phone and It was 8:16 pm. I'm thinking yep time to get down. I looked at the bait and something didn't look right. I saw this small little black spot. I'm thinking please be a porcupine as I did see one the day before here. Heck no It wasn't, it was one of the cubs. I'm thinking you better get here quick momma as I'm running out of shooting light with maybe a minute or 2 left. I then heard her about 25 yards to my left coming in. She was straight down wind of me and I'm thinking wow she's going to come in. Then it was silence and I didn't hear a thing for about 5 minutes. So off my arrow went into my quiver. I then hear her about 30 yards away glucking at her cubs telling them to get back over to her being she could smell me. Her cubs weren't listening and I was getting impatient so I snapped a small branch in the tree hoping to scare the cub away off of the bait so I could get down knowing the sow was far enough away without me getting into any kind of trouble with her. The cub scampered off slowly not alarmed too much and I lowered my recurve and started getting down very quietly. Just as I put my foot on the ground 3 big "woof woof woofs" came from the sow and she came charging in fast. It was pitch dark and I hadn't turned my light on yet as I didn't want to spook or alarm the sow when I was getting down. I'm guessing she stopped about 15 yards away from me. She stayed there chopping her teeth and lips at me for about 20 seconds. I'm thinking oh boy this might get interesting. I waited another 20 seconds or so and said on it I'm walking 10 feet over to get my bow and I'm walking out slowly. After getting my bow and taking 2 steps she took another step towards me but that was it. I kept walking out slowly and finally turned on my light about 50 yards down the trail hoping not to spook her thinking I was a human. It kinda made no sense though as she knew what I was after smelling me down wind. I made it out just fine. I know for a fact If I would've turned on my light right away when she came charging at me I would've easily saw her but figured It was better not to see her. :lol: Pictured below is the sow (she has the white V In her chest) and the big guy. 2 years ago this same sow hit this bait too with her cubs.
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September 6th hunt. After checking baits I decided to hunt a different bait. I hunted the same bait that Lydia and I sat on the 1st day. This bait still hadn't had a daylight hit since Lydia and I hunted the 1st day. The night of the 5th 3 bear hit this bait at the same time. That was cool! It was all in the middle of the night but being there was 3 bear in there at the same time I figured for sure competition would get going between these 3 and there would be a good chance one would show up during the daylight. I got to the bait at 4:36 for my hunt. When I got 20 yards from the bait I saw a long legged bear running away. After a few swear words later I put out some goodies and climbed up the tree into my stand. There's 2 video's below. The 1st one is of the bear hitting the bait at 4:35pm. Watch as you can tell he hears something coming down our (my) walk in trail. In the next video is me throwing out some goodies. I'm kinda pissy but yet kinda excited wondering If he'll come back. Something in me told me he would be back.
[bbvideo=425,350]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1dCmqEOpzXM[/bbvideo]
[bbvideo=425,350]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IoCRO7OgiFs[/bbvideo]




At 7:41 I knew I heard a bear coming in. A few minutes later I see him off to my right. I can tell right away he's going to come into this bait with ease. He was hungry. I didn't have my camcorder with on this bear hunt. I forgot to take my tree camera arm down from the other bait I sat on the night before. The good thing was my brothers Black 60 Covert camera was on this bait. I had set it to video earlier in the day when we baited it so I was hoping if I get a shot off it would get it on video. Here's where my 2013 Bear Hunt went to crap. If you remember (don't blame you if you don't since this is has been way too long of a read) I had said right away at the start of this thread that I had some bad luck on one particular hunt. Well this was the hunt. The stand I'm in is only about 5 feet up in the tree. The bear is at about 12 to 13 yards. I picked my spot and burned a hole 2 inches behind his shoulder with my eye's. I was aiming at mid body being I wasn't very high at all in the tree. I pulled my recurve back and hit my anchor point and held for a second and let my arrow fly. I hit about 2 inches lower then I wanted to but thought It's still perfectly fine. I figured I would get the bottom 1/2 of the near lung and also get the bottom half of the heart. After the arrow hit him he spun around to see what got him. He was now only about 6 yards away in front of me in a bunch of thick brush. I threw another arrow on thinking what the heck I might as well put another in him although the 1st arrow will do the trick just fine. I let the 2nd arrow go not knowing if I'd get through all the thick brush in front of me. He jumped after my arrow hit him (I have no idea where as I didn't see it hit). He ran about 20 yards and stopped. There was no shot this time. He stood there for about a minute and I'm thinking crap something isn't adding up here. This bear should've been dead 40 seconds ago tops. I could hear blood running out of him the whole time so I was really confused. He then walked away slowly and I slowly got down and grabbed the whole trail camera and headed back to my pickup. I got back to camp and put the card on my laptop. I was sick at what I saw that had happened. When my arrow hit the ribs the broad head deflected almost 90 degree's down and It never entered the ribs. In the trail cam video you can see that it came right back out of the hide 3 or so inches lower from where it hit before just putting a big slice in the bear was all. The 2nd arrow had a ton of fat on it. It was stuck 3 inches in the ground. I'm thinking I hit the outer edge of the bear some where being that's where all the fat is on a bear. The broad head I was using was a 3 blade Snuffer. I've used this head for 18 years. NEVER have I saw a Snuffer deflect like this before. It cost me a bear. When I got home I loaded the trail cam video on to YouTube. I then formatted the card after getting home 2 days later. Now today I went on to my YouTube channel to get the link for the video. It's gone. Not sure how that happened. I do have it saved I think on my lap top that's up at my dads right now. Anyhow that night and the next day we tracked this bear for 1000 yards right on the nuts. Lots of blood the 1st 200 yards and just like that it slowed way down. Typical flesh wound hit. We never did come across a bed the whole time. If this bear would've bedded and if we could've jumped it in its bed we might've gotten this bear as it did loose allot of blood. Another arrow and his adrenaline alone I think might have bled him to death. I can't believe the blood that comes from that arm pit area. I can't make my mind up if I'm done shooting Snuffers.

I said part 1 in the title of this thread. I'm going back up this coming Monday for a week. Lets hope there's a good part 2 to this hunt.


BassBoysLLP
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Re: 2013 Bear Hunt (Part 1). A VERY Long read.

Unread postby BassBoysLLP » Wed Sep 18, 2013 10:56 am

Great Part 1. Can't wait for part 2!

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Re: 2013 Bear Hunt (Part 1). A VERY Long read.

Unread postby dan » Wed Sep 18, 2013 11:28 am

Good luck when you go back up...
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Re: 2013 Bear Hunt (Part 1). A VERY Long read.

Unread postby Edcyclopedia » Wed Sep 18, 2013 12:00 pm

Good old fashion camp with the guys (and little gal)!!!
Keep at it Bud, and thanks for the voicemail a few weeks back, we'll catch up soon...

Good stories Steve, great stories!
Expect the Unexpected when you least Expect it...
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headgear
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Re: 2013 Bear Hunt (Part 1). A VERY Long read.

Unread postby headgear » Wed Sep 18, 2013 1:51 pm

Good read schultzy, can't wait to see part 2.
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Re: 2013 Bear Hunt (Part 1). A VERY Long read.

Unread postby Hodag Hunter » Wed Sep 18, 2013 1:56 pm

Intense hunts.

Bear hunting is filled with ups and downs, next week will be a good week. Good luck.
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Re: 2013 Bear Hunt (Part 1). A VERY Long read.

Unread postby Mike Foss » Thu Sep 19, 2013 12:11 am

Geeeeeeze Schultzy had me on the edge of my seat only to wait for part 2, where do I go to buy the part two book and when will it be out.....LOL. That big old bear WOW I wonder how many hunters he has eluded over the years. Great story so far now finish it off.

Mike
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Re: 2013 Bear Hunt (Part 1). A VERY Long read.

Unread postby Black Squirrel » Thu Sep 19, 2013 8:22 am

Great story, too bad you didn't find him. Can't wait for part II. Good luck!
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Re: 2013 Bear Hunt (Part 1). A VERY Long read.

Unread postby Stanley » Thu Sep 19, 2013 9:27 am

Great story just didn't turn out as expected. Good luck your next time up there.
You can fool some of the bucks, all of the time, and fool all of the bucks, some of the time, however you certainly can't fool all of the bucks, all of the time.
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Re: 2013 Bear Hunt (Part 1). A VERY Long read.

Unread postby djl » Fri Sep 20, 2013 12:00 am

Great story. One never knows what the heck can go wrong even with a well placed shot.
Like that you got your daughter out there.
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Schultzy
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Re: 2013 Bear Hunt (Part 1). A VERY Long read.

Unread postby Schultzy » Fri Sep 20, 2013 1:26 am

djl wrote:Great story. One never knows what the heck can go wrong even with a well placed shot.
Like that you got your daughter out there.
I totally agree. Not one person would have ever believed me If I didn't have this on video. I still can't believe that broad head did a 90 degree turn like it did. I'm still in disbelief. Maybe things happen for a reason though. We shall see. ;)
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Re: 2013 Bear Hunt (Part 1). A VERY Long read.

Unread postby djl » Fri Sep 20, 2013 12:31 pm

Keep at it. You never know when it will happen.
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Re: 2013 Bear Hunt (Part 1). A VERY Long read.

Unread postby Arrowbender » Fri Sep 20, 2013 1:52 pm

Thanks for sharing!
Fun read. Good luck this weekend
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Re: 2013 Bear Hunt (Part 1). A VERY Long read.

Unread postby Jackson Marsh » Fri Sep 20, 2013 2:39 pm

Great read! Awesome you had your daughter out with you! Does she show any interest in bowhunting? Good luck this weekend!
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Re: 2013 Bear Hunt (Part 1). A VERY Long read.

Unread postby Schultzy » Sat Sep 21, 2013 12:50 am

Jackson Marsh wrote:Great read! Awesome you had your daughter out with you! Does she show any interest in bowhunting? Good luck this weekend!
Every time I practice here at home she has to practice too with her recurve. She loves shooting her bow. I for see a hunting buddy in the future which will melt this dads heart.


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